


Slow Burn

by WelcomeToTheBadlands



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Artificial Intelligence, Canon Bisexual Character, Canon-Typical Violence, Con Artists, New York City, POV Lesbian Character, Reunions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-05 22:04:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 4,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5391992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WelcomeToTheBadlands/pseuds/WelcomeToTheBadlands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the Machine comes back online, Root has a newly inflamed passion to find Sameen Shaw after an encounter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> as we slowly burn,  
> we pull away,  
> unwillingly

_**Root's PoV** _

\-------------

The Machine is back online, the game is afoot again. There's a long way to go for us to catch up to Samaritan, and sleeping isn't going to help us. Rolling off of the bed, I wince as my body hits the floor, my body now fully awake. I pry myself off of the cold wood floor and pad into the bathroom. My living choices are currently abysmally dull. Beige walls and a small TV are the perks, ultimately accentuated with crappy Wi-Fi. She hasn't worked out all the kinks with identification yet.

  
Before I get the chance to brush my teeth, I'm alerted. Kitchen. Possible threat. Arm yourself. I roll my eyes and pick up the Beretta in my medicine cabinet, heading out with the tooth brush still stuck in the side of my mouth. "You know, I've been in a really bad mood lately. So despite the Machine's moral objections, I'll kill anyone so much as thinks about incapacitating me." My hair stands on edge, but I stay mostly relaxed, gun loaded in one hand, continuing to brush my teeth with the other.

"Wow, didn't know you guys were so on edge lately." That voice. I hadn't heard that voice in twelve months. I'd almost forgot. Forgot her voice. Sameen rounded the corner, no weapons in hand. Her hands up to show mock defeat. It's the first time that I'd smiled in... well, a year total.

 "Sameen," Stay your distance, assess the situation. Lowering my gun, I took a step forward, clicking the safety on and stuffing it into the back of my pyjama pants. "Sameen, how did you get away from everyone?" I stay stiff, perhaps it's because of the Machine instilling some forms of suspicion in my head. Maybe it's the fact that I know somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that Samaritan would go so far as brainwashing and extensive sensory deprivation to neutralize her.

  
"I didn't. As far as they know, I'm running an errand for a really annoying A.I." The agent moved to the fridge, wincing as she bent over to open it up. "No beer, goddamn Root. This place sucks," She clucked. A disappointed sigh emitting from the depths of her throat. 

"Sameen, tell me why your here?" My fingers drummed against the counter as my hands grasp around a bottle of whiskey. Biting the inside of my lip, I wait. Holding the bottle out in front of me. She takes the bottle from me and sits on the other side of the counter, unscrewing the lid and downing the remaining contents in seconds.

"Simple, I've been working as a double agent for the Machine." Shaw said as if I was an idiot. Her back presses up against the beige paint, unloading her gun and reloading with ease. "Would've come faster, but it- she ceased contact for a while. Got worried and came here." 

"You got worried," That sounded highly unlikely. Sameen Shaw never admitted her feelings to me. Except when we were at that elevator. The elevator. Those twenty seconds when her lips met mine were the best moments of my life. I watched as she set down the empty glass bottle and reached into her new coat. Pulling out a hefty file that would make most of the police in the NYPD cry in either joy or agony from having to go through all that paper work.

"Shut up and take what I can give you, I have to go now." 

~  
Samaritans operatives. That's what the file had in it. Samaritan's operatives and theie weaknesses. A step up.


	2. Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doubt controls the mind. Even when it comes to people we love.

Doubt. To be honest, I didn't want to doubt Sameen. But after everything that's happened, I can't afford to make any mistakes due to emotional attachments. That's where the research came in. Seventy-two hours of grueling background check that would've been able to be done in seconds if she was fully online.

I guess it must've been more than seventy two hours after the fact I came to the conclusion Shaw was telling the truth, because the next thing I remember was Reese calling my name as he moved throughout the apartment.

"I'm fine," I pull myself off of the floor and shut the door behind me, clicking the lock closed before I head out to the living room. "Did Finch send you here? I'd rather be in solitude right now. The Machine has me doing something right now." The big lug knew I was lying. 

"And you didn't have time to call either of us?"

"Were you actually worried about me?" I laugh when John doesn't answer, it might have been cruel, but I really didn't need his company right now. I needed Sameen's, someone who was actually a little entertaining and didn't just follow Harold's orders. Reese's glove catches my arm as I stumble backwards. 

"When's the last time you slept?"

"Not sure, do you count passing out as sleeping?" There was truth to my sarcasm. My mouth betraying my thoughts, portraying how exhausted I felt without any food, caffeine, or stimulant pills in my system. There's no point in lying to someone who isn't the enemy.

"It's Sameen. She was here," All the sudden he understood. It's almost as if I didn't have to explain. He immediately started scanning the apartment. 

"What did she say?"

"She told me the Machine used her as a double agent. She was working with her the whole time. She was letting her get tortured. Letting me be tortured," the last bit was more to myself than to Reese, "anyways, Shaw told me that she got worried when the Machine stopped communicating. Almost came back, but when she came back on... when she came back on The Machine instantly sent a message to her saying to come here and tell us that she was okay. Sameen- she looked different." I was more of a wreck than I thought.   _What else should I be? The woman that I loved was wincing from the pain of the torture Samaritan had put her through. This is normal._

John handed me some coffee and a bagel. Still scanning the apartment before realising I was delivering him a  _get out_ look. 

"I'll be in the car, when you feel better, we're going to need a hacker." A smile displayed on my lips as he closed the door. It might have been one of the first time Reese and I actually bonded since we first began looking for Sameen.


	3. Signed And Sealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deals with Satan himself never end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N- Hey guys, I love that so many people are voting on this. It's awesome. Please share, and I am going to be making a playlist for this fanfiction, so if you have a song suggestion... please comment if you please.

_If Your Number's Up_

_\-----_

The reason they needed a hacker and me specifically is because they were tracking down the human host for Samaritan himself. Smart. But I don't think that they'd be able to understand...  _Samaritan in it's entirety is even more frightening than I am._ You can't kidnap him, kill him, or even maim him, because he's a child. If I were religious, he would be the equivalent to the child of Satan (or Greer and Martine)  The perfect inconvenience for even me, the person with the most skewed moral compass. I watched the cars pass by us, people who weren't in the know that there life was being controlled by an evil AI that was micromanaging there every day life- unable to comprehend the human elements of life. Emotion, Attachment, Pain, Grief, Loss. That's would made me hate it so much. It didn't understand how much shittier it was making the Earth, how much colder of a place it became when He went online. "Let me be the one to deal with the kid, okay?" Reese nodded as I put my earpiece into place. 

_**"Can you hear me Ms. Groves?"** _

"Harold, I think that for the sake of your own personal health, you call me Root." That was the lack of sleep talking more than myself, but it's what I've been thinking ever since the day we started  _actually talking to each other._ "Thank you Harry, now... continue," I listened to him relay Samaritan's plans. Breathing in New York's smog as I waited. The door open less than a centimetre. It was surprisingly dull. They were merely introducing the kid to some criminals that wanted some guns, the kid would be protected. Harold wanted me-or rather the Machine- to speak to the kid while he bypassed into some of Samaritan's human operative computers. No one had told him about Shaw yet, I'm partially hoping it stays that way. When he's done I momentarily turn off my earpiece, motioning to John to do the same. "You can't tell Harold about what I told you, not yet." Reese nodded and the ordeal was over. We were ready to go.

\----

_We'll Find You_

\----

Sameen. Sameen was here. Alarmed when she saw me, walking at a surprisingly fast speed. We both stopped. I could read her face, the most apologetic look that a sociopath could have on her face, she raised her gun and shot first.   _ **"Ms Groves are you okay?"**  _For a moment I consider not answering. But Reese is crouched behind another corner, watching me. He answers. 

**_"She's fine."_ **

**_"I can't see the_** _ **shooter** ," _My gun- Shaw's old gun- was ready. Locked and loaded, I turned away from the corner and shot at her. Obviously aiming for a graze that would get her away from us. Not to actually wound her. If I got close enough, I kept going. "Sameen," The play acting... I needed to act like I was surprised otherwise I would compromise her position with Samaritan. 

"Shoot her down," The kid was uncaring, merely stepping out of sight so the bullets wouldn't hit him. The rattiness of the garage and the desolate surroundings reminded me of every time I had been jumped in a parking garage...  _this was a trap set by Samaritan._ John was currently working on a human operative of his own, beating him up with a new found ferocity. A bullet grazed my shoulder, cutting through my leather jacket. I shot again. She knew exactly what was happening, and she was allowing it to happen.  ** _"Is that Sameen?"_  **No one answered Harold's questions. 

"Shaw I don't want to shoot you," I ducked behind another corner, waiting for her to waste more bullets. 

"I was counting on that," She growled. The firing stopped and I came out, shooting at open air.  _Where did she go?_

 _{Behind you.}_ I ducked just in time to avoid a right hook to the face, and back away. Sameen's the one that taught me how to fight- hand to hand combat- there's no way I could beat her. Grabbing her hand as she swings it down in an arch, I squeeze her hand until the knife drops. Fair fight now, pulling, to the opposite side of her body, she overbalances and falls with a sickening thud. Good thing I brought two tasers, the police issued one that can fire from far away is the first thing to come out of my pocket. "Just like old times." Pulling the trigger, there was lasting bit of sadistic nostalgia as I watched her embrace for the pain. I whisper a small,  _I'm sorry._ Before realizing the kid wasn't there anymore. 

"Harold, he's not here any more. But I think that's the least of our worries." NYPD, Samaritan, FBI... they were all coming up the stairs right now. 

_{Leave Sameen}_

That's where I drew the line. We weren't going to be able to leave Sameen here to these people. The kid ran, and she was still here. Samaritan would question her loyalties because she didn't fight up to the usual par.

_{High threat}_

Think, think, think. I ran. Sameen stayed on the ground, on the concrete, and I ran. 

 

 

 

 


	4. Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [The sins of the son]
> 
> The Machine's moral compass needs some redirecting, meanwhile, a brutal battle breaks out between Root and Shaw.

**_The Machine's PoV_ **

**_\----------------_ **

 

Samaritan needs to die. I kept scrolling this message into Root's brain, taking her into overdrive as she ran through the garage, pounding after the kid. She soon caught up, my anger intertwining with hers. For a second, she stopped.  _No. Kill him._ She almost rejected, pulling out her gun and shuddering a whimpering kid beneath her. "Root," Primary_Asset. He should agree with this, why isn't he agreeing with this?  _  
_

_____

**_Root's PoV_ **

**______ **

No one had time to judge my actions. The explosion interrupted that. The next, Sameen was over Reese's shoulder, and Fusco was having trouble dragging me around. I made myself dead weight and waited until he dropped me. Scrambling out of his grasp whilst he cussed. I ignored the pain in my shoulder and yelled, "Stop." Reese turned around just as Shaw began to wake. Alarmed by her position over his shoulder.

"Reese..." her teeth grit together in frustration. Kicking in the side as she got down from his grip. "I'm sorry, I work for the other side now. It's better pay," The line was rehearsed but it was enough to convince Harry and Fusco. Shaw punched Reese in the jaw, watching as he stumbled back, I mived forwards before Fusco would get hinself hurt too. Letting her hit me, she incapacitated us all just so she could get out of there. 

It had been months before I saw her again, months before I even explained what was happening to Harold and Fusco. They deserved to know earlier, they'd made that pretty clear, but Reese agreed with me. If they had known it would have been worse for Sameen. " _ **Root**_." The line patched in. Crappy and full of static. "Root, are you there?"

"Yes, sweetie. What do you need?" The clicking of my keyboard stopped, lines of code patching themselves into the still damaged security protocols that had been damaged when she was uploaded into the computer room. She sighed and began, 

"I need a ride, compromised... got shot..." By the time she'd finished her sentence I had already stolen a car.  _Who gives a crap if Samaritan sees me?_ My recklessness might have come from missing her, being lonely, I don't know. But I went to exactly where she told me to, medical supplies on the way. 

 

 


	5. Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's cause a little trouble,   
> Oh you make me feel so weak,   
> I bet you kiss your knuckles,   
> Right before they touch my cheek

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mean to publish the last chapter when I did. So this is basically part two of the last chapter.

There was no blood. Only bitchy blonde girls whose necks I snapped a while ago. Being tied to a chair by Martine was not only infuriating, but something sank inside my stomach when I saw a blank faced Shaw, wearing a coat that looked exactly like her old one. "Wow, you came faster than Sameen said you would." There was no blood, there was about to be a lot of it. "Little lovesick puppy dog," Martine pouted in mock sympathy, watching Root wet her dry lips. Ready for the torture that was about to ensue. "It's funny, I never thought we would find your weakness until we broke Ms Shaw." She placed her hands on Sameen's shoulders, massaging them up and down. 

"If you so much as touch her again, I will-"

"What? Snap my neck... that wasn't me. That was my sister," she laughed.

"- grab your underwear and pull it out of your eyes, then after that, I'll kill you _very very slowly._ So much so that you'll be wishing you were never born in the first place." There was going to be lots of blood. Martine seemed momentarily surprised, before placing her lips on Shaw's neck. Kissing the now exposed bruised skin. My heart pumped more as I tried to work out why she was being so sick.    

"Interesting threat. I feel like you're going to be a lot more interesting to break, everyone does at some point. Just got to find your pressure point." Shaw picked up a syringe, the same fluid that Control used on me all those years ago. "You wanna know Sameen's?" The needle found must  vein. My eyes were focused on hers, although she wasn't looking at me. 

"I love you," My skin  shuddered as I began to go under. That's when I realized. This wasn't the stuff Control used. It was just the same color. This... this was a momentary sedation. 

"Sameen's weakness is you, Ms Groves. Exploit that... and she broke justperfectly." Shaw stepped back and let Martine moved forward as my head began to lag to the side. Martine's lips met mine as she kissed-no more like bit me. Successfully splitting my lip. I could feel the wind being knocked out of me as Martine and Shaw took turns beating the shit out of me. Later it was just Shaw, whether it was depriving me of oxygen, using my own knife, or my own taser, she was better at torturing people than Martine was.

There is going to be blood. 

There is going to be blood. 

There is going to be blood. 

When I came back to, I knew exactly what to do. I laughed before Martine could say anything. Tasting the blood in my mouth. "Hubris, it'll be death of you, you little bitch." Martine cocked her head to the side, cheekbones making her face look even bitchier than she actually was.

"How so?" Sameen walked behind me, and I could feel the snap of cords.

"Because... one thing I know about Sameen. No matter how many times she continues to surprise me, is she's a sociopath. Even if she had feelings for me, she would never tell them to you." The knife was at her throat as the cameras sparked out. "It's just you and me now." Sameen sat on the bed, her earbuds in, gun aimed at the door.

My knife traced her neck in a curve. I knew exactly what I was going to do. "Sameen,"

"Yeah,"

"How did Martine torture you?"

"Electricity, beating, waterboarding."

 I smiled and ignored the fact that my ear piece was chirping  in the corner. Poetic Justice. 

There was  going to be lots of blood. My knife went straight through her hand. Blood spirting on to my face. The red ichor keeping me warm as I oull out my taser. The electric volts are distributed through her stomach first. Screams emit from her throat that I'd never heard before they were disturbed through the side of her neck. And what I was about to use... the chest. Heart palpitations and the loss off blood weren't the things that killed Martine. I snapped her neck afterwards.

There was a lot of blood. 

Martine's blood on my hands. I laughed as Sameen got up, taking me by the wrist and pulling me to face her. "Root-"

"Root, snap out of it." I came back to reality. My scabbed lips meeting Sameen's as I push her up against the opposite wall. _Why does it seem everytime we kiss each other, we kiss like we aren't going to see each other again?_


	6. Colours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you're only happy when your sorry head is filled with dope

It isn't until I ripped off her shirt that I finally saw the extent of the injuries she had attained when she was with Samaritan, the injuries that the now dead Martine had given her. "Oh god," Maybe it was the lack of sleep talking-but the overwhelming feeling of guilt- had taken over. Washing over me in waves until I stopped kissing her and pressed my back against the thin walls, sliding down until I hit the floor. Sameen squeezed my hand, not quite understanding what I was doing. 

"Root. Don't be an idiot, it's not your fault."  She sat down, a sigh coming out of her mouth as she met my eyes. "Look, see this?" She pointed to a bruise that was still healing from her rib. "That was me being stupid on an undercover mission, I overshot how fast I could get out of a building before it exploded and a two by four hit me. And this? This is from Martine kicking me in the shoulder. This-" she pointed to a small angry web of red skin. "-well that's from you tasing me, at least five times." A smile displayed over my face as I stared at the blues and greens on her body, tracing her bruises as her hands hitched in my jeans. And for a moment in time I forgot responsibility. We had a good time, and I remember somehow getting to my place before the sex stopped.  _She'd found the pills. She'd found the pills, noticed the lack of food and she was angry._

There was some yelling. Some yelling and some pity looks. The last thing I remembered was the needle slipping into my skin, and my ear piece being left on the counter. "You'll be seeing a lot more of me soon."


	7. Begging You To Save Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you could devastate me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N)- So I know that a lot of people like this, and I'm really grateful but I haven't really heard that much feedback at all. I would really like to hear from you guys. Thanks.

Dried lips and scar tissue, gun powder and dark fluorescent lights. This is what Club Hyperion is made of. "Harold, I still don't get the point of sending me here." If this was a joke- sending me to a lesbian bar... _I will kill him_. But when Harold started talking... he sounded serious. 

" _Samaritan is making a deal here, Root. And whilst John might enjoy going I think you'd be the one to most fit in there."_ I muttered some curse words as a very drunk woman started to stare at me with a clear intention in her face. 

"I'm sorry, I'm spoken for." I get up from my place at the bar, hearing Mr. Reese's snickering.

I sigh over him, focusing on the people around me and trying to ignore the loud music that caused waves of pain in my head. That's when I saw the needle being slipped into my arm.  _Shit._ Slowly I began staggering around like I was atrociously drunk and I fell to the floor. The Machine must want me to be dragged away by a few foreign faces because she is completely silent right now. All my senses are unhinged and the unfeeling blues and purples dip and sway in my sight. I'm out in seconds. 

When I come to, my surroundings are completely void of-  _well, surroundings._ I can't hear anything, feel anything, smell anything, see anything, or taste anything. A sensory deprivation chamber.  _Stay._ The Machine patched in before not responding after that. Great, she wants me to be here. One can only imagine why. 

* * *

 

 When she woke again, there was a video being played on the screen. It was videos of Sameen. Sameen being tortured. They'd found Root's weakness.


	8. Author's Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... hey.

_**Author's Note: Yeah, hey guys. I have exams this week and I probably won't be able to update. But I'm using this time to compile you guys a short playlist for Slow Burn. I'm so glad you guys love it so much and it makes me happy! Have a happy holiday!** _

_**Root:** _

_**Riot Van by Arctic Monkeys** _

_**Bad Habit by The Kooks** _

_**Cardiac Arrest by Bad Suns** _

_**Gasoline by Halsey** _

_**Nicotine by Panic! At The Disco** _

_**She's probably a Lesbian by Ally Hill** _

 

_**Sameen Shaw:** _

_**She's A Genius By Jet** _

_**Control by Halsey** _

_**Ghost by Halsey** _

_**Mercenary by Panic! At The Disco** _

_**Irresistible by Fall Out Boy** _

 

_**Root/Shaw:** _

_**Novocaine by Fall Out Boy** _

_**Stayin' Alive by The Beegees** _

_**Wicked Ones by Dorothy** _

_**My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark by  Fall Out Boy** _

_**Hurricane by Halsey** _

_**Trouble by Halsey** _

_**Mad Hatter by Melanie Martinez** _

_**Toxic as performed by Melanie Martinez** _

_**Dark Horse (Metal Version)** _

_**Lovers In A Dangerous Time**_


	9. Saturday Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Nos omnes committitur alicubi,'
> 
> We all start somewhere. One time Root and Shaw had crossed paths before.

They were children. Root had remembered that. She was positive that Sameen didn't. But as she shifted through injured delirium, she remembered. They were actually children the first time they met. Root was still looking for Hannah and Shaw was on the run. The thought brought a small smile to her face.

* * *

 

She had passed a girl on the street with a bruise that had ran from her wrist to the middle of her forearm. Curiosity overwhelmed her as she sat on the bench next to her. "Hey. Are you okay?" The girl across from Root didn't speak as she watched the people in front of her- a hard gaze reading them. "Girl-"

"I'm fine. Go away please." 

Root raised her hands in submission but put them down again while she leaned backwards. "No- you look interesting. And no one around here looks interesting. So where are you from?" Silence. But the young girl didn't let up until Sameen finally answered. 

"Out of town." 

"Got a name?" 

"What's it to you-" 

"Well... nothing actually- but like I said you look interesting?"

"Don't you have any other friends?" There was hostility in her voice that made Root draw back. The painful memory of Hanna still on her mind. She went silent. "I'm sorry," The apology was blank but it was still an apology. "Something happen?" 

The change in attitude almost made her head spin but she answered anyway. "Hanna. She was abducted- but I know she's still alive. It was the librarian's husband. I know it was. But she won't believe me. I need to find someone who will."

"Do you have any evidence?" 

"No- except- I memorized his license plate number." 

The other girl stared out at the people thoughtfully. "If no one will listen- make them, okay?" And then she left. 

 


	10. Sameen Is Back- Fully So

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My name is Gen.

When I came to, the vent was being unscrewed by a small blonde girl. She came through the vent with a decent speed, a taser in her hands that she had used to take down several men that were quite a bit bigger than her. I couldn't move any time soon, couldn't care about the age of the girl in front of me, she stared at me for a second before turning to the panel on the wall and punching in a code that let John, Sameen, and Fusco in. "Who knew the little fruit roll had it in her?" Fusco smiled as John threw me on his back. I cried out in pain from the needle marks and syringe insicions. 

"The mission?" 

"We took care of it while Shaw found you. We have what we need,"

"Sameen's cover?"

"I'm fine Root, we just need to get you home and patched up." Even though I was delirious and dying from blood loss, thirst, and being pumped full of chemicals, I knew Sameen was being overly nice to me. I didn't like it. I was about to say something when the realization of how tired I was came down on my body.

I drifted off quite easily after that. 

\---

When I came to, Harold was working away on the Machine, and Sameen was staring at me with a very exhausted expression on her face. "You won't be able to move without help for a day or two, but most of the wounds should heal. I'll change the bandage for you." The pain came shortly after she told me about the bandages and I grit my teeth. 

"Why are you here?"

"Cover got blown, screw Samaritan anyways."

 _Identified: Sameen Shaw. Friendly. Proceed to engage in conversation._ I'm glad that she finally agreed on something with me. 

"Who the fuck was that little kid that climbed through the vent and incapacitated four Samaritan agents?"

"Genrika.  Self taught spy." She says this as if it's normal. I roll my eyes. 

 _Proceed with overtly flirtatious pick up line._ She was giving me tips now? The Machine must be getting stronger as we speak. 

"So you were looking for me?" Sameen rolled her eyes and turned to the side. "Oh come on. Humour a girl who's half dead. You were worried."

"Cause you got your weak ass handed to you on a platter. Next time be more aware of your surroundings." I coughed and winced. The pain was causing me to be more honest than I wanted to be. 

"Wasn't very romantic." I pouted.

"Kiss your girlfriend, Shaw. She just got tortured, I think she deserves it." Reese snorts.

"She's not my girlfriend." 

"Not yet-"

"Shut up-"

"Make me-"

It slowly revolved into Shaw roughly grabbing my shoulders and bringing her lips to my mouth. It was quick. But it was worth a Christmas tree full of presents.


	11. Don't Threaten Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sameen and Root finish a mission early, earning them some free time.

Hacking. Shooting. This was all key to there new missions, so essentially two components that were filled by Root and Shaw. It was small, gather some intel on Samaritan agents, and go. Shoot if needed. It was so easy, that Root had worried something was wrong- but was assured by both Shaw and the Machine that everything was good. They'd spent downtime in Dubai. The club People By Crystal being their current choice of hangouts. 

"You look like you need a drink." Sameen handed her some blended whiskey in a glass, before downing her own. 

"I'm fine." Pushing the alcohol away, Root scanned the crowd of people. Dancing and drunken, before turning back to Shaw. "Do you ever think about what happens after Samaritan?" She downed another shot as Root said this. 

"Fight more bad guys, obviously." She snorted. "Why?"

"I can't see an after." 

"That's normal. Stop being so dramatic." 

\----

Root

\---

She's probably right. But what if she's not? 

* * *

 

**_Yeah, sorry this was so short. I just didn't know how to make this longer. Also, sorry for the lack of updates. Post thoughts, suggestions, whatever in the comment section. Thanks._ **


End file.
